Tags:

Text Size

-

+

reset

In early September, former two-term Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber became the latest to announce plans to reclaim his old office.
AP Photo

In Iowa, Republicans are clamoring for Branstad, who held the governorship from 1983 to 1999, to return to the public arena. Already, a “Draft Branstad” group has been formed with an eye toward encouraging Branstad, currently the president of Des Moines University, to pursue a fifth four-year term.

Richard Schwarm, a former Iowa Republican Party chairman whom Branstad has tapped to assess his potential candidacy, said the ex-governor had excited party activists, who credit him with solid stewardship of the state’s economy during his tenure in office.

“People think he was able to fix the problem and that he could fix the problem again,” said Schwarm.

The phenomenon of former governors seeking to reclaim their old seats isn’t a new one. In recent decades, Republicans including Fob James of Alabama, Kit Bond of Missouri, Bill Clements of Texas and Bill Janklow of South Dakota all successfully ran again after losing or sitting out terms. West Virginia’s Cecil Underwood even pulled off the remarkable feat of winning a 1996 bid for governor — 40 years after he won his first term in 1956.

On the Democratic side, the recent list of governors who had a break between terms includes Cecil Andrus of Idaho, Bruce King of New Mexico, Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, Jim Hunt of North Carolina and Rudy Perpich of Minnesota.

Then there’s former President Bill Clinton, who returned to the Arkansas governor’s mansion in 1983 after losing his reelection bid to Republican Frank White in 1980.

While the prospect of former governors winning back their old jobs isn’t exactly new, the number launching or weighing bids this cycle appears unusually high.

“These governors miss the action,” said Carney. “They look at it and say, ‘I did a good job when I was there.’”

For some, like Barnes and Ehrlich, it’s a chance to finish a job that was abruptly interrupted by a defeat after one term.

Nearly all of the former governors eyeing a return would become instantly competitive, analysts say, since they enjoy a built-in fundraising network, an existing base of party support and, most important, high name recognition.

“The advantage they have is the most important advantage you can ask for in electoral politics: name ID,” said Phil Musser, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association.

But running as a former state executive also has its drawbacks. Opponents have the opportunity to pick through a treasure-trove of material that sometimes includes missteps or even scandals.

“Clearly, the disadvantage is your opponent has the ability to litigate every aspect of your tenure,” said Musser.

And ex-governors are also vulnerable to charges that they are past their prime or vestiges of another era.

That’s the strategy San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Brown’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination in California, is embracing.

“The contrast is obvious. If you want new leadership and you want a fresh face, Jerry Brown is not your guy,” said Garry South, a Newsom strategist. “Will that argument be effective with every voter? Of course not. But will it be enough for us to win? Yes.”

In Georgia, where Republicans have wasted little time reminding voters of why they ousted Barnes in 2002, the former one-term Democrat tried to address his baggage right out of the gate in his June announcement speech.

“When I was governor before, I didn’t do enough listening,” Barnes said. “I realize I was impatient, and I had an aggressive agenda. I didn’t take time to explain why I thought certain issues were important or time-sensitive and critical to make a Georgia that could be instead of a Georgia that was.”